Vin Diesel has been a part of the MCU as the voice of Groot, but he’s on his way to getting a superhero franchise of his own, which makes sense; why hasn’t Diesel led a superhero film yet, you might be asking. Now he’s in talks to lead Valiant’s Bloodshot big screen adaptation as the titular pale-skinned and self-healing killer for Sony.

Back in 2015, comic book publisher Valiant signed a five-picture deal with Sony, and while things have been quietly in the works behind the scenes since, one of the first projects is finally coming together. A new item at The Wrap reveals Diesel is the latest actor tapped for the lead role of the titular super-powered killer. Most recently the studio was reportedly circling Jared Leto for the role – we’ll happily take Diesel instead, please! – while Oscar Isaac, Mark Wahlberg and James McAvoy‘s names had also popped up on the studio’s wishlist. But Diesel will have to make some room in his Fast and Furious feuding schedule with Dwayne Johnson to help kickoff the Valiant movie universe.

In the comics, Bloodshot is a former soldier who’s kidnapped and injected with nanites, or microscopic machines, that wipe his memory and turn him into a massive killing machine. He gains the ability to shape-shift, regenerate his wounds, and some crazy super-human strength. He’s sort of like a super-powered Jason Bourne with some Ghost in the Shell vibes, a man implanted with false memories searching for his true identity. Bloodshoot is likely to be introduced in the first Sony-Valiant film Harbinger, then get the spotlight in his self-titled debut.

Bloodshot will be directed by visual effects artist Dave Wilson and written by Arrival‘s Eric Heisserer. The project will be  R-rated and The Wrap likens it to the similarly mature Deadpool and Logan, which sounds like a step in the right direction. But don’t expect this to look exactly like those; the report says the film will be tonally and aesthetically influenced by the likes of 80s blockbusters like Terminator, RoboCop, and Total Recall. The film is set for 2019.

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